


Tiny Noodle Collection

by daddyzanchez



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, One Big Happy Family, Other, Phase One (Gorillaz)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2018-11-14 22:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11217549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daddyzanchez/pseuds/daddyzanchez
Summary: A little collection of requests I have gotten - these are about the domestic life of the happy gorillas fam and their little girl.





	1. The Trimmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noodle likes to watch Murdoc trim his beard with the electrical trimmer. She knows she isn't allowed to touch it but it becomes too much, and she just has to. Though Noodle remembers that she doesn't have a beard - but oh wait, she has hair on her head!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon wrote to me: "Hit me with the phase one daddy realness! No but srsly uk how in phase one noodles hair was fucked and she was half bald? Can u maybe put some context to tht (idk maybe she got a hold of one of the boys razors or something idk) and how she showed the boys and what they did" - This was super fun to write!

When that little Japanese girl had arrived in a FedEx crate, she had had the most beautiful, black and silky hair, and especially 2D found himself running his hands through it when they rehearsed, Noodle loving it. That was, until she one day had been standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom at Kong and looked at the trimmer with curiosity. She knew that the rest of the band members used it, having walked in on Murdoc trimming his beard several times. It was intriguing and fun to watch the hair drizzle into the sink and when she had reached for it, Murdoc had yelled at her and told her something she had no idea what meant. She didn't understand anything they said but the way he had acted, she knew it was off limits. Until now… because now, there were no one around and she could do whatever she wanted.

She reached for it, frowning as she couldn't see herself in the mirror but luckily, she was a problem-solver and stepped onto the lid of the toilet. Perfect view and she would just have to untie the cord so it could reach.

As it started buzzing, Noodle let out a tiny, almost manic, giggle and felt excitement at the fact that she was breaking the rules. She tilted her head in confusion as she looked at herself in the mirror, suddenly realising that she didn’t have any beard to be trimmed, actually her chin was totally smooth. What was she supposed to do now? She pondered for a moment, looking into the mirror and then at the trimmer several times back and forth before it hit her, she had hair on her head! Why had the others never thought of that? It could be used for so much more than just boring beards!

Noodle looked at all the different pieces that could fit onto it but shrugged, not really knowing what to do with them. She would be careful and only take a little off the top.  What could go wrong?

Closing her eyes as she felt slightly anxious, she placed it on her hair, suddenly gasping and opening her eyes as it simply left the spot completely bald. It looked weird but she kind of liked it, and chose to create another spot. The hair fell onto the floor and she bend down to pick it up, leaving the buzzing trimmer on the lid of the toilet.

Suddenly the door opened and 2D walked in, “Murdoc, have you seen Noo- Noodle! What on earth are you doing!?” He looked absolutely horrified at the bald spots on her head and Noodle immediately realised she was in trouble after he grabbed at the trimmer to turn it off. He looked at the hair on the floor and then back at her. She smiled widely.

“Don't I look cool?” She spoke in Japanese and 2D frowned, rinsing the trimmer from hair and putting it back in its usual place. Noodle frowned as she gained no response and ran out to find Murdoc, making 2D yelp and run after her.

“Fuck! Murdoc will kill me,” 2D groaned as he followed the girl who excited bounced down the halls.

Murdoc was tuning his bass in the recording room, cigarette in his mouth and seeming to be deep in thought as Noodle jumped in front of him, hands in her sides and grinning, “Murdoc! I look cool!”

Murdoc's cigarette dropped from his mouth and onto the floor. He quietly put the bass away and stood, stubbing out his cigarette, “Noodle, what the fu-”

“Look at her! I don't know what she was thinking of!” 2D came into the room, panting from running, “H-her hair, it's everywhere!”

“This what happens when you're on babysitting-duty!” Murdoc hissed, grabbing at Noodle’s arm, who immediately started shrieking, “We're fixing this. There's no way I'm dragging such a hairdo onto the stage.”

“No! I look cool,” she protested, angry that no one reacted to her Japanese, as she was being lead back to the bathroom, 2D following behind them.

When they reached the room, Noodle had calmed down and was looking at her feet as Murdoc was pulling out the trimmer again. He only just managed to shave her head by connecting the bald spots she had already created, ending up with two long stripes of exposed scalp from her forehead to the back of her head, before Russel entered the bathroom.

“What the hell is going on here? Why on earth have you shaved Noodle’s hair off?” Russel rumbled, looking at the trimmer with a grunt. He took it from him, “I leave for less than an hour and I hear screaming.”

“She did it herself!” Murdoc insisted and looked to 2D, “Tell him, Faceache!”

“It's tr-true! I caught her with the trimmer!” 2D stuttered, kicking at the loose hairs on the floor.

“Okay, but who was on babysitting duty today because it most certainly wasn't me,” Russel said with a defeated voice.

“Certainly wasn't me,” Murdoc argued and crossed his arms over his chest, looking with disgust at 2D.

“Wasn't me either!” 2D said, shrugging, “What day is it today? It's Tuesday, right?”

“Which means it's your sitter-day,” Russel said angrily, poking at Murdoc’s bony chest. Murdoc looked away.

“Well she should've known not to do it,” Murdoc hissed, looking quite miffed at getting the blame, “She's old enough to know she's not allowed!”

“She's 10!” Russel said as he held out a hand for Noodle, “Let's brush the loose hairs off and find a way to solve this and no, we're not shaving all her hair off.”

Noodle grabbed at Russel’s hand with caution and gave a toothy smile when nothing bad happened. She was lead to sit on the lid of the toilet, Russel getting a brush.

After a thorough brushing of her hair, they all took a step back to look at the result. It looked absolutely terrible. Noodle laughed cheekily as the others frowned, “I look punk.”

“How about a wig?” 2D suggested.

“Are you serious, numbnut?” Murdoc snapped, “I still think we should shave the rest off.”

“Wait, hold on, I have an idea,” Russel said and left the room, Noodle shrinking slightly as she was stared down by the bassist. He came back with a helmet, something similar to an American football helmet, and put it on her. She looked at herself in the mirror in awe, turning to hug Russel close.

“I think she likes it,” Russel said with a smile, patting her head.

“Whatever, my plan was better,” Murdoc grumbled.

“We should get her several different hats!” 2D grinned.


	2. The Japanese Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phase 1: Noodle always refuses to wear normal clothes, and one day Russel agrees to drag them all out for a shopping trip. Noodle can choose whatever she likes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an anon who said: "Can I have some more phase 1 stuff. I noticed tht noodle always had like little matching space suit looking outfits. So maybe like some shopping for her with the boys??"

They had tried everything by now; begged, ordered, persuaded with candy and ice cream. Nothing helped, and though she was little, she stood her ground and yelled a big “No”, one of the words she'd learnt in English, and a pretty useful one, each time they presented actual clothes to her. Apparently, fashion for 10-year-olds weren't tasteful to tiny Noodle but in all fairness, none of the band members really liked pink. She had to wear something though and when they rotated the responsibility of getting her dressed and ready each morning, it was the same for each of them. They'd choose a piece of clothing but she'd refuse to wear it unless they’d explained that she'd have to wear that or nothing.

They'd caught her several times looking through their drawers and pull on their long-sleeved shirts. They were way too big for her, almost looking like oversized dresses as she neared stumbled in them when trying to walk in them. She'd call their names excitedly and then swing around the big sleeves with a grin. None of them ever got mad at her but she got mad when they wouldn't let her wear them.

“Noodle, you can't wear that, please take it off,” Murdoc sighed, “I can't pull it off you, it wouldn't seem appropriate.”

“No!” Noodle said defiantly and spun around to make the sleeves flap in the air, “No, nonononoooo!”

“Well, it's my shirt,” he tried again but she just shouted again, “Fucking hell, wasabi girl, take it off.”

Russel and 2D eyed them from across the room, Noodle having stolen Murdoc's chosen shirt for the day. Russel smirked, “Seems like you gonna have to give it up.”

“Shut it, it’s the only one I have that's clean,” Murdoc replied bitterly and began pulling at the sleeve, causing Noodle to yell at him in Japanese.

“Wear one of the dirty ones? Body odor never seemed to bother you,” 2D snorted and Russel started laughing. Murdoc grumbled, eventually giving up when Noodle started screeching.

“Fine, you little shi-,” he was cut off by Russel’s raised brow, “Fine, Russel, you say something to her then!”

“Very well,” Russel walked up to Noodle, crouching down to look at her as she still flapped the oversized sleeves, “Noodle, look at me.”

Reluctantly, she did and Russel cleared his throat, trying his hardest to form a sentence in his head. His Japanese was horrible but he figured that after the hair-trimmer-incident, where Noodle had nearly shaved all her hair off, he'd have to just learn a few words and commands. It took him a moment before he eventually said something close to a sentence, “Noodle, how about we go out to buy clothes and you can choose whatever you want.”

Noodle eyed him suspiciously but eventually nodded with a big grin, “Yes!”

* * *

It turned out that even though Noodle got to choose whatever she wanted, she was still picky as hell, dragging her boys from store to store, and looking miffed at every piece of clothing that she passed. She wanted nothing in too bright colours, nothing with patterns of princesses, butterflies or flowers. It was horrid because somehow clothing industries were certain that all girls liked pink and purple with glitter and rainbows.

“We've literally tried everything,” 2D groaned, stopping up to light a cigarette and refusing to walk anymore. He sat down on the nearest bench, “When can we go home? My feet are tired.”

Murdoc nodded, sitting down on the opposite side of the bench, “For once I actually agree with Dimwit, dare I say that I want to take my boots off.”

“More like your hooves,” 2D grumbled at the nickname, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping the cigarette.

“Shut up, 2D,” Murdoc said bitterly and Russel sighed deeply, holding Noodle’s hand tighter so she wouldn't run off.

“You two better get off your asses so we can move on, there's still loads of shops left and I'm not gonna break my promise to her. She will pick something she likes before we go home. Simply parenting, you know,” Russel lectured, picking Noodle up and let her sit on his shoulders, legs around him, “Are you going to keep on whining or?”

* * *

After what seemed like, and probably was, hours, Noodle finally started speaking up and pointing to a tiny shop. It was one of those that you didn't really notice when walking down the streets and Murdoc held up his arms, “I rarely say this but thank God.”

Russel smiled, trying not to show how badly his feet hurt from walking for hours. He put Noodle down onto the ground again and she happily ran into the small, Japanese-like, shop.

A little bell chimed as they walked in and a little old, Japanese lady looked up from the counter. She smiled widely as soon as she saw Noodle, waving at her and Noodle excitedly looked at all the things. There were lots of colours, making most of them almost dizzy. Daruma Dolls, Lucky Cats, different coloured paper laterns, the smell of matcha tea and several different tea sets and porcelain. What caught Noodle’s attention was neither of those things, instead she steered towards a rack of clothing which only contained what seemed to be Japanese-like, old fashioned kimonos; long jackets with wide sleeves and a tight collar.

“Why didn't we think of that?” 2D said with a whimper, crossing his legs and examining his poor feet after sitting down on a chair, “It makes sense she'd want something that reminded her of home.”

“This shop is creeping me out,” Murdoc mumbled, looking at the Daruma Dolls, “Hah! This one har your eyes, Faceache!” He picked one up and the lady immediately snapped at him in Japanese, causing him to put it down as he looked completely flustered. Noodle’s eyes widened and she started giggling. The woman walked up to her and spoke softly in Japanese, pointing at the different pieces of clothing.

“Remember Noodle, you can choose whatever you want in here,” Russel reminded her and the woman translated, making Noodle look up at Russel with wide eyes. She walked to hug him close, her head on his stomach.

“Go on then, Noodle, choose something,” 2D encouraged from his seat and the woman slowly translated for them. He finally stood again and walked up to look through the rack with her, “You should definitely model for us, right Russel?”

Noodle looked excited at that and nodded, picking out a red outfit with white sleeves. She showed Russel, who nodded approvingly. It was a long, red jacket with buttons all the way down and it had matching shorts to go with it. Where the breast pocket should've been, there was a small white logo of something neither of them knew.

She was lead to a changing room by the owner and soon came out in the outfit and her helmet. She beamed, hands in her sides, and spun around.

“Fuck this, I'm going for a cigarette, anyone got a lighter?” Murdoc said after a little while, looking quite unimpressed and still bitter at the fact that he had been scolded by an old, Japanese lady.

* * *

It took surprisingly little time for Noodle to choose several outfits, including a sandy coloured one and a black one. She was happier than ever as she was allowed to leave in the red one, and even Murdoc had to smile at the sight of her. It didn't last long when the rest of the band presented a Daruma Doll for him, which he didn't find funny at all. Though especially Noodle found it hilarious.

It became much easier to get on with their mornings after this, and the person being responsible of her getting dressed and ready for the day, started getting their morning tea and toast warm instead of cold.


	3. The Meeting at School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three dads are called in for a meeting at Noodle's school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an anon who said: "I saw this text post talking all about noodle going to school when she was young and how the boys would do to the pta meetings, soccer games, ect ect. So could u write a little bit about her life during school and the roles the boys would play. Thanks"

Murdoc was clutching Noodle’s tiny hand as they walked down the empty halls of the school. It always felt slightly like an alternative reality when one walked down empty halls where there usually were loads of people. Noodle knew that being here with your parents, especially when no one else were, was only a bad thing. She looked to the floor, not saying anything as Russel followed behind them. Murdoc had yelled something at 2D, who was still sitting in the car as if he wasn't allowed to go with them. It was obvious, he didn't like it by the frown on his face as Noodle looked back at him as they walked inside. She had wished he had been the one with her, he made her feel slightly less uneasy by this.

Her teacher came out of his office, looking down at her with a smile. As soon as he noticed Russel and Murdoc, he raised his brows and then furrowed them in confusion. It was obvious that he had not expected the sight of a young black man and an older man with a satanic cross around his neck. None of them smiled at each other and it made Noodle whimper. Murdoc looked down at her and let go of her hand to run his own over her hair, “Easy now, luv, everything’s great.” Noodle found the calm tone of his voice reassuring. Maybe everything was okay after all?

“No, everything is actually not great,” the teacher said and held out his hand. Russel moved past them to shake his hand and present himself, Murdoc followed right after, not looking very impressed. The teacher, Mr. Davidson, looked at them both skeptically again as the walked into the office together. He leaned in to whisper, “Where are her parents?” Noodle tilted her head at the whispering and gasped as Murdoc’s facial expression turned dark.

“What do you mean ‘Where are her parents’?” He scoffed, walking up to him and Russel had to grab his shoulders. Murdoc looked like he was going to swing his fist at the poor man, “We're her bloody parents! Russel, have you heard this?”

“Calm yourself down, you know we can’t be her biological parents. She’s Japanese...” There was a short pause and then Russel cleared his throat, “Adopted, sir.”

Mr. Davidson looked slightly uncomfortable as he held open the door and Noodle walked inside as well. He closed it and went to sit down behind his large desk. Holding out his hand, he gestured to the two chairs on the opposite side of him, “Please, take a seat. I, as much as you, would like to get this over with.” Murdoc huffed and stood, frozen to the floor, refusing to obey. Russel on the other hand sat down and helped Noodle do the same.

Mr. Davidson let out a big sigh and then reached for the pile of papers on his desk. He searched for a moment and even though Noodle understood very little of what was going on, she felt the anxiety in her whole body as Murdoc let out a quiet growl and crossed his arms over his chest.

Finally, the teacher found the right paper and looked up, “Noodle got in a fight with one of the other kids the other day. I don’t know why but we do certainly not tolerate violence here.”

Russel turned his head and Noodle shrunk in the chair as she was starred down, “You did what?” Russel’s Japanese was still rusty but the phrase came out loud and clear. Noodle knew exactly what the problem was and started babbling, saying various of things, among other that the other kid had been teasing her about her hair. It was too fast for Russel to understand and when Noodle’s bottom lip had started quivering, Murdoc had taken a step forwards and banged his hand into the desk, “Noodle most certainly wouldn’t do such a thing without good reason. There must’ve been something wrong with that little shi-”

“Murdoc, calm yourself, please!” Russel broke him off, holding his hands over Noodle’s ears, who had started smiling widely at the outburst. Murdoc closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. 

“You know what? Fuck that,” he growled and leaned over the desk to grab the teacher by the collar, “Shouldn’t you be in charge of what happens in the school yard? Find out what is wrong with that kid, or I’ll come by and I’ll… Yeah, you know what I mean, there’s no way she’s going through an incompetent school system like I did.”

“Alright, out we go,” Russel was already up on his feet, Noodle on his hip and dragging Murdoc towards the door. Mr. Davidson said nothing, obviously in complete shock, as they went out of the office again.   

* * *

“How did it go?” 2D asked as they all arrived back to the car. Murdoc didn't even look at him as he got into the front seat.

“Let's just say that Murdoc ain't allowed to show his face at the school anymore,” Russel sighed as he buckled Noodle’s seatbelt.

“How dared he say that!?” Murdoc exclaimed as he turned on the engine rather aggressively.

“Say what?” 2D asked curiously.

“That we ain’t her parents,” Russel explained.

“Well, I am not her father, I don’t even know her mother, do you, Muds?” 2D furrowed his brow and Murdoc turned in his seat to look at him. 2D’s brows rose in surprise at the glare he received, and he held up his hands in defeat, “So sorry, I’m just trying to understand.”

“Shut up, Faceache.”

“You two better figure this out, scoot over, I am driving,” Russel rumbled and Murdoc reluctantly obeyed.

“If I were anything, I’d be a big brother,” 2D tried and smiled at Noodle, “None of us are related to her.”

“Well, we’re as good as!” Murdoc huffed and turned away.

“Sure thing, can we go get ice cream now?” 2D asked, turning to Russel, “Russel, how do you say, ‘Ice cream’ in Japanese?”

“Aisukurīmu.”

Noodle’s face lit up and she grabbed at 2D’s arm as he repeated it, talking very fast and enthusiastically. Ice cream it was then.


	4. The Family Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band is going on tour but first, they need to do their morning rituals, including taking care of Noodle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an anon who requested the boys babysitting Noodle, phase 1.

The sound of an alarm clock was always painful to 2D, especially when his migraines were on their high. This, luckily, wasn’t one of those day but instead, it was five in the morning and all of them were going on tour today. This meant that they were driving on the tour bus for hours, and it comforted 2D to know that he could sleep on the ride to their first stop, if Murdoc didn’t wake him up several times - once, when they were touring the United States, he had forced them to stop in the middle of the road because of a sign that showed the way to the world’s biggest cow. All of them, except Noodle, had been complaining but Murdoc had let Noodle sit on his shoulders as they went to see the huge preserved cow.

2D smiled to himself at the memory anyway, glad that it was something Noodle had enjoyed too, as he sat up in his bed, struggling to turn his alarm clock off. It felt as if it was at least four feet away from him and not just on his night stand, causing him to nearly fall out of bed as he reached for it. He exhaled deeply as the noisy beeps stopped and rubbed his eyes, getting out of bed and being in the need of holding onto the doorframe as he made his way to the bathroom; his body was still not awake.

After fixing his hair and having a, frankly amazing, morning-wee, he went to pull on a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt that surely needed to be in the wash. It was probably Murdoc’s turn to do the laundry, so the fact that he had sour-smelling clothes right now was not a surprise. Russel kept saying the same thing about Murdoc; that if you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself but 2D hadn’t the faintest idea how to use a washing machine.

Usually, it was 2D’s job to wake up Noodle when they had to go on tour and today was no different. Russel wouldn't be the one doing it because it was clear from the smell of French toast that he was in the kitchen, and Murdoc, well, Murdoc was Murdoc and probably still sleeping.

2D walked down the hall of Kong’s and finally reached Noodle’s room. She hated when one just barged in and so 2D carefully knocked before entering. Noodle was lying in her bed with the covers all the way up to her nose, hair over her eyes so she looked totally hidden.

“Noods? Are you awake?” He went to kneel in front of her bed, and reached to brush her hair away from her eyes. Noodle sighed deeply in her sleep and smiled, making 2D’s heart flutter, “We have a long day ahead, you need to get up.”

Noodle squeezed her eyes shut before slowly blinking awake, “Two-Chi.” She rolled onto her back, pulling the covers further up to cover her face. 2D reached out to run his hand over her back. She still couldn't say his name to perfection but the way she said it was perfect to him, and more personal. At least she's trying, 2D thought to himself and grinned. She didn't speak a word of English so he had no expectations of her. She was able to understand some words, which she had learned from being with them for a year or two, but not longer sentences. It had made the days much easier, and 2D smiled as he finally knew which word could get her out of bed, a word she definitely knew.

“Russel’s making French toast,” 2D pointed out and it caused Noodle to peek out from underneath her duvet, making 2D laugh, “You like that, huh? You can only get it if you get up and get dressed, ya know.”

Noodle tilted her head in confusion and 2D had to get up and point at the pile of clothes on a chair. She nodded eagerly, holding out her hands. It was 2D’s turn to look confused before smirking, “You want me to choose?” She smiled widely.

“Two-Chi!” She tried, shuffling out of bed and walking to the pile of unfolded clothes, “This!” She grabbed a purple tutu, looking up at him for approval. 2D raised a brow but knew better than to argue with her, he held it up and nodded. She added a black and white striped t-shirt and sandals, and 2D left her to change after ruffling her hair and making her bed. It wasn't something he did in his own room but Noodle needed a room where she could actually live without feeling cramped by mess.

* * *

In the kitchen, Russel had set the table with cereals, milk, juice, fruit and French toast. It smelled like cinnamon and freshly brewed coffee, almost making 2D drool as he entered the kitchen with Noodle on his shoulders.

“Morning, hope you've slept well,” Russel said as he sipped his juice, leg crossed over the other. He looked at Noodle, eyed her outfit briefly and repeated what he had said in Japanese, being the only one who had been able to pick up on what Noodle was saying.

2D nodded and put Noodle down, holding out a chair for her. She crawled onto it and replied happily at the Russel’s indirect question, who had gotten up to get her a plate with French toast. He placed it in front of her, having created a smiley face with blueberries and drizzled powdered sugar over it. She clapped her hands before digging in, and for a tiny moment, Russel let himself smile before going back to his own breakfast.

A loud noise, something close to stumbling, was suddenly heard from the hallway followed by groaning. 2D looked towards the door, watching a close-to-death Murdoc walk through it. He looked absolutely awful, tongue hanging out of his mouth and bags under his eyes the size of those you could get from Ikea, at least that was the first thing 2D found it appropriate to compare them to. Even though it was a scary picture, he still bit into his own French toast and smiled, “Morni-”

“None of you lot say anything before I get my damn coffee,” Murdoc snarled, ripping open a cabinet and pulling out the largest cup they had, only to pour himself a huge cup of coffee.

“Might as well have drunk from the pot,” 2D mumbled, causing Murdoc to whirl around and Russel to sigh.

“What did ya say?” Murdoc hissed, looking ready to throw the cup after him but its content seemed to be too important to waste.

“Hey, calm down, man,” Russel said, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Get your coffee and read your newspaper and shut up, will you?”

“Is it the right one?” Murdoc asked after sipping an unhealthy amount of coffee, “Not The Sun or some bullshit?”

“I've gotten your favourite, sit down,” Russel continued, “Wouldn't dare risking having your grumpy ass on the tour bus for a whole day.” Murdoc chose not to reply and nearly threw himself into the chair, pulling the newspaper up to cut himself off from any form of conversation.

2D snickered and turned to Russel, “Russ, are you gonna fix Noodle’s hair after this? I promise I'll clean the kitchen but she hates when I comb it.”

“I'll do it, don't worry,” Russel replied, smiling down at Noodle who had poured herself a third glass of juice.

“You're much better at it than me anyway,” 2D grinned, embarrassed.

“Ironic, innit? The man doesn't even have hair,” Murdoc commented from behind his newspaper, “Is there anything you _can_ do, huh, Faceache?”

“At least I don't sound like a cat getting its tail pulled when I sing,” 2D said under his breathing, earning a slap with a folded newspaper.

“Oh man, Murdoc, you gotta stop that or do you want to do her hair?” Russel asked as he pulled the newspaper out of his hand.

“I can do it better than both of you,” Murdoc sounded way too confident.

“Deal, you do it then,” Russel smirked as he got up to pour himself a cup of coffee as well.

* * *

When their plates and Murdoc’s cup of coffee were empty, Russel got up to clear the table. 2D walked straight to his room to start packing and Murdoc looked at Noodle for a moment before sighing. He got up from his chair, stretched and then held out his hand for her, “Come on, wasabi girl, let’s show the others.”

They reached the bathroom and Murdoc dragged a chair from another room to make her able to see herself in the mirror. She pulled at her hair and made a funny face, Murdoc raising a brow in return before he went through the drawers one by one until Noodle swung her legs and pointed at the bottom one. He opened it and grabbed several hair ties and her toothbrush.

Brushing her hair was an absolute nightmare, she screamed and wailed, and even punched the hairbrush out of Murdoc’s hand a couple of times. Murdoc ended up arguing with her, her yelling in Japanese and him yelling curse words that she ended up repeating.

“ _Murdoc!_ ” She hissed, squirming on her chair as he pulled at her hair to make a pigtail.

“I'm almost done, love, will you _please_ just sit still?” Murdoc begged, ending up making two very uneven pigtails. Noodle looked at herself in the mirror after he had let out a “Tadaa!”, frowning and pulling them out much to Murdoc’s dismay, “Are you serious? I spent ages on those. They even fit your ridiculous outfit. What the hell are you wearing anyway?”

Russel popped his head in through the door, “How’s it going? We’re leaving soon.”

“I can’t do it, Russ,” Murdoc said as he ran a hand through his own hair, “She’s a nightmare, I’m not strong enough.”

“I did hear the wailing, yeah.”

Noodle narrowed her eyes in the mirror and looked at Murdoc, saying something that came out of pure spite. Russel raised his brows, causing Murdoc’s mouth to turn into a hard and thin line, “What did she say?”

“She called you a trash can, and said that she’d rather wear her helmets,” Russel smirked triumphantly, knowing he had won the argument from earlier.

“Fine, you little shi-” Murdoc was cut off by a hard glance from Russel, and in the meantime, Noodle had hopped down and gone to her room.

“Are you cleaning this up? I’ll find her a helmet. We’re leaving in 20.”

Murdoc pulled the drawer open, annoyance radiating from him, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll be ready.”


	5. The Broken Nail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murdoc is supposed to be babysitting and helping Noodle building a city out of Legos goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an anon who wanted Murdoc breaking a nail!

Russel was looking into an empty refrigerator, sighing as he found nothing edible. 2D had eaten all of his favourite cereal, making boring Corn Flakes the only thing that was left. He grabbed the milk, figuring that it was better than nothing, and opened the carton to smell it. 

“Yuck,” he exclaimed with disgust as the familiar smell of sour milk filled his nostrils. He went to pour it out into the sink. 

2D entered the kitchen in the same moment, “Milk gone bad, Russ?” 

“And you ate the rest of my cereal,” Russel sighed in reply, folding the carton and throwing it out, “I’m gonna go out to get us some food, the fridge is empty.” 

“Aw, can I come with you? They’ve got some really good new teas that I’d like to check out!” 2D looked excited, too excited for Russel to decline. 

“Sure but I’m leaving now,” he went to close the fridge again, throwing a few more things out into the bin. 

“Good, I’m ready when you are, what about Noodle?” 2D motioned to the living room with his head, where Noodle was sitting on the floor with a few of her toys and her guitar. 

“Let’s get Murdoc,” Russel decided, “I’ll drag him out of the studio. He has been there all night.” 

* * *

“Murdoc! Get out of there, you’re taking care of Noodle,” Russel said as he banged on the glass screen between the recording studio and the booth.

“What do you mean? It isn’t my turn today!” Murdoc grumbled as he exited, clearly not pleased at being bossed around.

“Well, do you want to come with D and I? We’re going grocery shopping,” Russel replied, having to turn off the recording system because Murdoc didn’t make any sign that he’d do so.

“Like that is ever going to happen,” Murdoc crossed his arms over his chest, body language becoming more and more dismissive.

“Fine, then go to Noodle, she’s in the living room.”

“She can take care of herself, Russel. She’s not a child, I’ll be here and it’ll be fine.”

“She’s ten, and last time you left her alone, she shaved herself half-bald with your trimmer...” Russel went to grab him, “Come on, it’s not that hard, just play with her Legos.” 

* * *

Murdoc sat down, legs crossed, in front of Noodle who was busy piecing together brick by brick. She looked up at him with a smile, and though Murdoc was annoyed about being assigned as babysitter for the moment, he still couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“That’s a pretty huge landscape you’ve built there,” he said, pointing to the several houses standing in some kind of formation that should probably resemble a small village. It was no wonder that Noodle had enough bricks to build a whole city, Russel always spoiled her with whatever toys she wanted and right now the big hit was Lego. Murdoc was oddly envious, remembering how he had wished for the newest Lego playsets when he only a child but never getting anything close to that as a kid.

Noodle clasped her hands together and got out of her position on the floor, holding up her hands and doing claw-like movements, “Godzilla!” 

“No…” Murdoc couldn’t stop himself from laughing quietly, “You’re not doing a Godzilla.” 

Noodle just nodded eagerly, sitting down again and proceeding to build her houses. She eventually handed him a guide to building similar houses, and Murdoc felt the longing he had had as a child, to build with these dumb bricks.

“Fine, I’ll help you,” Murdoc flipped the pages of the guide, picking up bricks that matched the pictures and started piecing them together. In all honesty, he enjoyed it and the fact that Noodle was going to walk around between their creations only to knock them over was oddly pleasing. 

After his second house, Murdoc frowned as he noticed a mistake in the wall of a yellow suburban-looking house. Noodle had pointed it out earlier but he had brushed her off by saying he knew exactly what he was doing. He reached for the house, trying to break the wall apart but finding himself struggling a lot with it - it just wouldn’t come off, so he decided to use his nails and dig them into the cracks between two bricks.

Then it happened, a sharp pain throughout his ring finger and a sudden pulsing in it. He yelped, making Noodle look up and seem startled.

“In the name of bloody Satan!” Murdoc yelled, throwing his now ruined creation onto the floor. He whimpered, looking down at the cracked nail and the slight amount of blood under it, “Shit, look at what your stupid toys have done to me! It hurts!”

Noodle looked unimpressed, raising a brow at him and getting up from the floor once again, “Shut.”

“What did you say to me? Can’t you see I’m in pain?” Murdoc looked dramatically offended. To his surprise, Noodle left the room. It was unbelievable, here he was, hurt and bleeding and she did nothing! He scoffed, knowing Russel would just say something about her still being a child.

Though soon, Noodle entered the room again with a damp cloth and nail clippers. She handed it to him and smiled softly, repeating the word ‘Shut’ when Murdoc was just about to complain again. Reluctantly, Murdoc took the things and carefully cut down his nail so it was not in the risk of breaking even more. He then walked over to throw himself onto the sofa and wrapped the finger in the cold, wet cloth. 

Noodle walked to stand in front of him, looking up at his face and tilting her head, “O.K.?”

“I can’t believe I wished for that stupid junk when I was younger, those things are deadly,” Murdoc said bitterly, though relieved that the pulsing in his finger had died down.

“O.K.?” Noodle stuck out her bottom lip as she did not get a reply. 

“I’m fine, Noodle,” Murdoc mumbled, looking down at the wrapped finger.

She nodded but instead of going back to her Legos, she crawled onto the sofa as well, “Cool.”

“Cool? You listen too much to 2D,” Murdoc snorted, then paused briefly, “You’re not so bad, you know.”

Noodle did not answer, instead she simply put her head on his shoulder and he managed to wrap an arm around her to ruffle her hair. She sighed, closing her eyes, “Godzilla later.” 

“Gotta give this fallen soldier a break and then he’ll get back to work,” Murdoc said but Noodle had already fallen asleep and suddenly Murdoc’s finger didn’t hurt anymore. 


End file.
